Laws calls for coalition solidarity

David Laws has urged fellow Liberal Democrats not to put the coalition at risk by sniping at the Tories

Former Cabinet minister David Laws has warned fellow Liberal Democrats not to put the coalition at risk by sniping at their Conservative partners.

His comments, in his first interview since being barred from the Commons for seven days on Monday, will be seen as a warning to ministers like Chris Huhne and Vince Cable who have gone public with criticisms of Tory colleagues.

They come as Mr Huhne awaits the decision of Essex Police over whether they will launch an investigation into allegations from his estranged wife that he asked her to take his penalty points for speeding.

Mr Laws quit the Cabinet after just 17 days following allegations about his expenses last year, at a time when the coalition was still basking in the glow of a Lib Dem-Tory "love-in".

His intervention in an interview with The Times comes in a far more poisonous atmosphere, following the bitter electoral reform referendum campaign which saw Mr Huhne brand Tory tactics "Goebbels-like" and Mr Cable describe the Conservatives as "ruthless, calculating and thoroughly tribal".

Party leader Nick Clegg - with whom Mr Laws still talks or emails every week - has spoken of the need for his party to establish a more distinct identity on issues like NHS reform after their trouncing at the polls.

But Mr Laws told The Times: "Our continued effective delivery of policies depends not just on shouting and our public profile, but on a trusting relationship between the key people in the coalition.

"We could get our way over one or two key issues by storming off, voting against them, briefing against them, whatever. But when the next key issue is on the table and we need the co-operation of everybody in the coalition, will we get it? Maybe we won't."

And he added: "The opportunity to make a difference in national politics is a very special one and we shouldn't be sitting around in the corner of the political room sulking about the fact that we are in government and looking forward to the opportunity when we can return to the splendid irrelevance of opposition."

Mr Laws was suspended from the Commons for seven days after the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner found he breached expenses rules by claiming the rent he paid his male partner of nine years. The Yeovil MP had already voluntarily repaid more than £56,000, explaining that he designated his partner's London address as his second home because he did not want to be open about his sexuality.